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Why Is This Man Smiling?
Because he’s still alive. So we decided to ask him about it, as well as his producer/papa-figure role on MTV’s Who’s Got Game? Crazy, right?
Stuff,
6/12/2003
By Bill Schulz
Forget about Magic Johnson’s 6,559 career rebounds and 10,141 assists—the original MJ’s most eye-popping stat is the fact that he’s earned more money in retirement than he ever did rebounding. And while Earvin’s road from b-baller to white collar has been a smooth one (see his many restaurant and movie franchises), other endeavors have been a bit rockier (see The Magic Hour—actually, for the love of God, don’t see The Magic Hour). But Magic’s latest small-screen venture looks much more promising, because the show puts him back in the very setting that first made him famous. As executive producer and on-screen sage to 12 street-ballers on MTV’s Who’s Got Game? (premiering June 22 at 10 P.M.), Johnson promises to provide equal parts show time and quality time for these impressionable urban youths. I caught up with the Hall of Fame Laker between TNT playoff broadcasts to discuss A.C. Green’s virginity, Peter Vecsey’s density and, of course, the awful acronym that is HIV. As for a more palatable abbreviation? How about the WNBA? Yeah. Guess that one’s pretty awful, as well.
STUFF: Should The Magic Hour have been more like The Magic Coffee Break?
MAGIC: I think The Magic 20-Second Time-Out. [Laughs] That’s just about as long as it lasted, right there. I wasn’t very good, and the show wasn’t very good. You just move on.
Although it got big ratings, looking back, do you think it was a good idea to have Howard Stern as a guest?
You know what? I had never met Howard, and I enjoyed having Howard on. I’ve done his show two or three times since. Howard is the master of getting up under your skin. While he’s holding his ground, you’ve got to hold yours.
The winner of Who’s Got Game? gets $100,000. How long does it take for you to earn that during a regular workday?
Me? Hopefully in about an hour. I just called my office to find out how we did this morning at our Starbucks, and they sent me the printouts of how all the theaters did yesterday. I’ve put the same amount of energy and time into it as I did into basketball, and it’s paid off for me.
Much like our internship program, Game makes no professional promises. But from what you’ve seen, do any of ’em have what it takes to make it in the NBA?
They’d need to send some to a summer league and match their skills against other NBA players. Then we can see from there. I’m really impressed with their skill level, though.
The winner also gets a court named after him. A criminal court or small claims?
Small claims. Definitely small claims.
Ever try to put on an old pair of your Lakers short shorts to see if they still fit?
I can’t even get one leg in. [Laughs] They were short shorts then. Now, with a few years on them, and them shrinking, and me getting bigger? Shoot, forget that.
Is it possible for Larry Bird to tan?
I’m sure when he’s out there playing golf, he gets his tan on. It’s gonna be a semi-tan.
ESPN.com’s Bill Simmons called your autobiography, My Life, the “I am very heterosexual!” book, because he felt it was meant to quell rumors that you were a homosexual. Your response?
I don’t really respond to people who don’t know me. The book was just my life and letting people know how I’ve lived it. Whatever he wrote, that’s what he wrote—even though it wasn’t true. I don’t have to prove that I’m heterosexual. He was just another guy trying to take his shot. He took it, and I moved on. I don’t even worry about stuff like that.
Patrick Ewing’s ex-wife, Rita, claimed that after you made your HIV announcement in ’91, the NBA
began giving out condom key chains to players’ wives. What do you make of that statement?
I didn’t know about that until you just said it, so I can’t comment on it. I don’t know her that well. I know of her.
A.C. Green was the floating log of virginity within the lake of fornication that was L.A. in the ’80s. Did Green’s God-fearing ways ostracize him from his teammates?
In terms of when he talked about sex and things of that nature, he was by himself a lot. He was preaching to the team, no question about it. And that’s how he is today. We loved A.C., but he had strong beliefs.
In My Life, you wrote, “Some drink, some smoke, some eat too much—my pleasure was women.” What was A.C.’s vice?
Jheri Curl and working out. That was his thing. He once got so much grease on the balls that Pat Riley had to call off practice.
You’re kidding.
That’s a true story! He had just had his hair done, and it was just too much—running everywhere. Just too greasy. We couldn’t handle it. [Laughs] We made fun of him. You don’t let up on a guy for something like that.
Not making fun of him for that would’ve been against the rules.
You got that right.
You contracted the HIV virus 12 years ago. Give me your survival guide.
I take my medicine, like I’ve been doing for 11 years, and I continue to work out. I run and lift weights. The great thing about it is that it’s laying asleep in my body, but it’s not really in my blood. It’s playing dead. What works for me is working out and staying positive.
Regarding your Combivir ad, Stuff senior associate editor Mike Olson claims that your eyes follow him as he walks around the subway. Was that the intended effect, or should he stop smoking pot?
[Laughs] He should stop smoking pot.
A hush fell over the crowd when you scraped your arm and started bleeding in an exhibition game during your first comeback attempt. What was going on in your head?
It really educated me on the fact that people were not educated. A lot of people just freaked out. They just went, “Uh-oh!” They were scared to death, and it opened my eyes. I retired right after that game, because I knew I had helped build the game up to where it was, and I didn’t want something like this bringing it down. I was devastated at that particular time. Nobody ever really made a comment, though. I think that, in the beginning, they thought they couldn’t high-five you or shake your hand or play ball against you. After a few years passed, they understood that you couldn’t get the virus by doing that.
Yeah. People are stupid. Who’s the best outside shooter in the NBA right now?
Dirk Nowitzki and Peja Stojakovic. Both of them are truly outstanding. It doesn’t matter the range—they’re both so deadly. The other day [versus the Blazers in the first round of the playoffs], Nowitzki had, what? Forty-two, or something like that? You just can’t stop them.
Is it a coincidence that they’re both from Europe?
The game has changed. When I played, you had tons of outside shooters. After the ’80s and early ’90s, nobody could shoot. And that’s why we’re looking to draft guys from Europe, because we need guys who can shoot that three-pointer. What’s been killing our kids is that during the off-season, they haven’t been improving. If every young kid worked as hard as Kobe [Bryant] in the off-season, the league would be better. Kobe, Kevin Garnett, Tracy McGrady and [Allen] Iverson—those four guys really work. These European players—they love to play, and that’s what they do all the time.
What do the Lakers make of coach Phil Jackson dating the owner’s daughter?
Everybody was surprised, because I don’t think anybody really knew about it in the beginning. She’s like a sister to me, so I just cheer for them. They really love each other, and it’s for real. They make an excellent couple.
Peter Vecsey: A decent columnist, or should he talk to your fist?
Well, he’s decent, but there were some articles that he wrote that I didn’t agree with. He knows that, because I told him. [Columnist] Mike Wise told a lie in the New York Times that I was doing the drafting for the Lakers—that [Lakers general manager] Jerry West was not doing the work. I called him up at his job to let him know that he was lying. He never called me back, either. So I really blasted him about that, too. If I said something that was wrong, go ahead and blast me. But for you to take a shot at me and for the article to not be correct? I can’t allow that to happen.
As a kid, your nickname was June Bug. What did the people of Lansing, Michigan, see in you that made them think of a large scarab beetle?
Probably my big nose, how about that? My parents called me that. Usually, the guys
I hung out with called me Big E.
You bragged to your dad when you made the cover of GQ, because he was so stylish. That said, it’s a pretty boring magazine overall, yes?
[Laughs] Yes.
Ever hear Utah fans yell out something along the lines of “Thou shalt take thine goodly ball to the hole” on road games?
[Laughs] They probably wish that I had ended up in Utah. That’s all fans have usually said.
Does Charles Barkley leave crumbs everywhere on TNT’s broadcasting desk?
Everywhere. But he’s trying to lose weight now. What’s crazy is that when he goes full-out, he’ll lose the weight. It’s just when he starts saying “Forget it”—then he blows up. He’s gotta make up his mind.
You played against Agent Cody Banks’ Frankie Muniz in a celebrity basketball game. Did you want to bodycheck him as much as I wanted to see it?
Oh, yeah. And then body slam him.
How often do your so-called friends ask for handouts?
At least 20 to 50 times a week. “I need a house,” or “I can’t make my payment.”
You should see the the phone calls. They don’t have any shame about it—it’s just boom!, “Because you have it, I should get it.”
You and I were both born on August 14. I was wondering if you’d like to set up a joint celebration this year. I’m tons of fun at parties.
[Tentatively] Well…we can do that, then.
Your place or mine? I’ve got a sweet studio apartment in Queens, you know.
The Leos have to get together and party together. What we’ll do is, if I come that way this year, you have to come to L.A. next year.
Awesome! I just know I won’t be getting my hopes up for a birthday that could very well end in me being alone and suicidal!
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